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Taz
Peter Senerchia (born October 11, 1967) is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling under his ring name Taz. In Extreme Championship Wrestling, he was a two time World Heavyweight Champion, a two time World Television Champion, a three time World Tag Team Champion, and a two time FTW Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career Early years (1987–1993) Senerchia debuted in professional wrestling in Puerto Rico in 1987 after being trained by Johnny Rodz. He wrestled as Kid Krush before moving on to the name Tazmaniac, which he would use variations of for the rest of his career. In the early 1990s, as The Tazmaniac, he wrestled for International World Class Championship Wrestling and held its Light Heavyweight Championship for six months in 1991. Eastern / Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–1999) The Tazmaniac (1993–1995) In October 1993, he and Jack Dick (brother of Chris Chetti) debuted in the Philadelphia-based Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW), just prior to its name change to Extreme Championship Wrestling, as the tag team The Tazmaniacs. When that team broke up, he was put into another team with Kevin Sullivan, with whom he won the ECW World Tag Team Championship twice. During his second reign as World Tag Team Champion with Sullivan, The Tazmaniac became a double champion when he also won the ECW World Television Championship for one night in March 1994. For most of the rest of the year he floated around the tag ranks, teaming with different partners. He held the title once more, this time with Sabu, until Sabu was (legitimately) fired by ECW owner Paul E. Dangerously for no showing an event in favor of appearing at another event in Japan. Tazmaniac was put out of action by a legitimate injury for much of 1995. During a tag team match, 2 Cold Scorpio and Dean Malenko delivered a spike piledriver to him, and though he knew it was coming, he didn't have time to properly protect himself. As he explained on the DVD documentary The Rise and Fall of ECW, "I landed right on my forehead and just jacked my whole neck back and that was it." The neck injury was so bad that, according to Tommy Dreamer, hospital staff couldn't believe he'd walked into the hospital where he sought help after the match. Though he was unable to wrestle, Paul Heyman continued to pay him per their oral agreement, forging a loyalty between the men. Taz (1995–1999) When Senerchia returned, he did so with a revamped gimmick and used the shortened name Taz. The new character had him clad in a black singlet and exhibiting a more physically intense in-ring style, focusing his offense on suplexes—which announcer Joey Styles dubbed "Taz–Plexes"— earning him the nickname "The Human Suplex Machine". He also debuted his Tazmission finishing maneuver, causing opponents to tap out to signal their submission as in mixed martial arts instead of nodding their head or vocally saying "yes". This quirk was soon picked up by other companies throughout the country, and is currently the primary gesture for submission. After feuds with 2 Cold Scorpio, Jason Knight, and Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Paul Varelans, Taz and his former partner Sabu were put into an angle stemming from the firing incident years earlier. The two chased each other throughout 1996 and 1997, including having an altercation on WWF Monday Night Raw, the flagship show of their competition, during a working agreement between the two companies. The feud was all designed to lead to ECW's first pay-per-view, Barely Legal, where Taz defeated Sabu with his Tazmission, only to have his manager, Bill Alfonso, turn on him and join Sabu and his partner Rob Van Dam. Two months later, at Wrestlepalooza 1997, Taz won the World Television Championship from Shane Douglas to begin his second reign, starting a feud with Bam Bam Bigelow over it and eventually losing it to him. After losing the World Television Championship, Taz was elevated into the World Heavyweight Championship picture. In May 1998, with Shane Douglas injured and unable to wrestle, Taz was given an old World Television Championship belt painted orange—his trademark color—and began cutting promos declaring himself the FTW Heavyweight Champion of the World. Though the championship was unsanctioned in storyline, it was defended at ECW shows as Taz feuded with Douglas' Triple Threat, until Douglas was healthy, at which time Taz defeated him for the World Heavyweight Championship. Just before winning the World title, Taz "gave" the FTW title to long time foe Sabu in a match where he physically pulled Sabu on top of him to allow him to get the pin. Taz held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship for nine months before he signed with the World Wrestling Federation, losing the title as the first man eliminated in a three way dance at Anarchy Rulz 1999. As he walked out of the ring, a large portion of the ECW locker room joined him on the entrance area to give him an emotional send off. After being off of ECW television for most of the fall, he wrestled one final match as an ECW performer at November to Remember 1999, losing to Rob Van Dam via pinfall. Return to ECW (2000) Just a few months after Taz arrived in the WWF, Mike Awesome, the man he had lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to, signed with World Championship Wrestling. Legal wrangling by Paul Heyman prevented Awesome from taking the title belt with him, and in a piece of bizarre wrestling history, ECW and WWF officials agreed to have Taz, a WWF wrestler, make a surprise appearance at an ECW show to defeat Awesome, a WCW wrestler, for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, in an ECW ring. Taz held the belt for ten days before losing it to Tommy Dreamer, during which time he wore it on various WWF shows. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Ka Ta Hajime / Tazmission'' (Half nelson choke with bodyscissors) **''Tazmission-Plex'' (Half nelson choke suplex) *'Signature moves' **''Angry Man's Clothesline'' (Lariat) **''Brooklyn Boot'' (Running big boot) **''Concrete Crash'' (Double leg slam) **Crucifix armbar **Multiple suplex variations ***Capture ***Dragon ***German ***Hardway (Half nelson) ***Head and arm,38 sometimes from the top rope ***Overhead belly to belly, sometimes from the top rope ***Overhead underhook ***Pumphandle ***T-Bone ***Tiger *'Managers' **Bill Alfonso **Paul E. Dangerously **Woman *'Nicknames' **"The Human Suplex Machine" **"The Most Miserable Son of a Bitch on the Planet" **"The One-Man Crime Spree" *'Entrance themes' **"Breed" by Nirvana **"Keep It in the Family" by Anthrax **"Path of Rage" by Harry Slash & The Slashtones **"School" by Nirvana **"Survive (If I Let You)" by Harry Slash & The Slashtones **"War Machine" by Kiss Championships and accomplishments *'Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling' **ECW FTW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **ECW World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **ECW World Tag Team Championship (with Kevin Sullivan (2) and Sabu (1) **ECW World Television Championship (2 times)